Hello all,

My White Sands that I bought last fall opened her first bud yesterday,oh la la...gorgeous.

Mandarin's coat has been blooming for the last week but alas, has no scent what so ever, I love it dearly but sure wish it had fragrance,

I would love to get feedback on which are the most fragrant peonies available for purchase, I am not particular to type although I tend to avoid the fullest bombtype as I find the sight of raindamaged blooms highly unnerving, to say the least... ;-)

I am also partial to white and the softer shellpink rather than the gipsy pink 'cerise ( a very intense cherry pink) but have heard that traditionally,

"the redder the flower the more fragrance it has"

(-I am not sure how much truth there is to it though.?).

Time of bloom or general height of plant is of no importance either..

'

My current little collection consists of; Duchesse of Nemours, White sands, Mandarins coat and a unnamed variety hubby brought home from Lowe's a couple of years ago

-it's a double in a pale white/pink color and with a ever so light fragrance.

Another thing I need advice about is some of the buds, these are what I would call the 'secondary'. to the main bud, they are still quite small and is increasingly turning 'black' - well not really the color black but they're browning and although it does not feel mushy to the touch something is up with them.

Also, some of the faulty buds are located right next to a healthy currently blooming bud...?

I have looked over the general appearance of the affected plants and can't see anything that is out of order, they are all lush and rich in vegetation and in diffrent stages of blooming.

I only know of botrytis by reading about it, is there any general easy way to ascertain it's prescence?

Thank you all!

Kind regards, Kerstin Linnea Kristiansen.